Poll: Are you on the cloud?

[Midpack]

We're all going to be keeping (more) apps and data on the cloud in the years to come, just wondered how far along this crowd is so far. I have email, pictures and music out there, I don't see the risk in any of that so it seemed like a good way to get my toe in the water.

I am still a little gunshy about keeping sensitive Excel spreadsheets out there, though we're all exposed to hackers already without anywhere near the security the cloud reportedly offers. Fortune 500 companies are increasingly putting their apps and data on the cloud - the cases of corporate hacking that I've seen reported are with their own servers, not the cloud. May be yet to come.

I have some stuff on Google's cloud and other on Apple's. I suspect I'd be better off having everything in one location, but that's for another day.

 

[HFWR]

Offsite, a couple of Google spreadsheets, and some documents backed up on Amazon's cloud. Onsite, an extra computer with 1.5Tb.

 

[Animorph]

I have everything backed up online, now with Google Drive using the Insync drivers. I use Dropbox to sync my key stuff between multiple computers and my phone. My password storage is encrypted, but I've only got crossed fingers for the rest of it. Not that there's much of interest.

 

[W2R]

I have a Kindle and AFAIK all Kindle books are stored on the cloud. Aside from that, I actively try to store things locally rather than on the cloud when I have that choice. I back up my computer on an external hard drive and on my desktop computer.

I voted "Less than half, but more than just email.' due to having a Kindlle.

 

[FIREd]

Except for a few sensitive documents stored locally, I am on the cloud. Music, photos, emails, bookmarks, movies, books, magazines, spreadsheets, etc...

 

[GrayHare]

Interviewer: Why do you hack clouds?
Hacker Sutton: 'Cause that's where the data is.

 

[M Paquette]

Oh, this is interesting. I'm a bit reluctant to store anything significant in "the cloud", because of privacy and ownership concerns.

There is currently a court case in which the government argues that they can have what one posts in a cloud service, and have no obligation to return it or honor what rights one might have thought he had regarding the posted data.

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2012/10/governments-attack-cloud-computing

The government maintains that Mr. Goodwin lost his property rights in his data by storing it on a cloud computing service. Specifically, the government argues that both the contract between Megaupload and Mr. Goodwin (a standard cloud computing contract) and the contract between Megaupload and the server host, Carpathia (also a standard agreement), "likely limit any property interest he may have" in his data. (Page 4). If the government is right, no provider can both protect itself against sudden losses (like those due to a hurricane) and also promise its customers that their property rights will be maintained when they use the service. Nor can they promise that their property might not suddenly disappear, with no reasonable way to get it back if the government comes in with a warrant.

"All your backup are belong to US!"

 

[obgyn65]

I have an ipad and an iphone. There is a "cloud" function, so I guess I am a cloud user. That's about all I know about clouds.

 

[imoldernu]

Using four different computers, much info in cloud, but with paper backup on important documents... used for access.
Change passwords often.

Don't know what happens to stored info, when it is deleted... Gone forever, or like a hard drive...retrievable.

 

[Ronstar]

I have less than of all data in the cloud, but I'm saving more and more in the cloud recently. That way I can access it from anywhere.

 

[kumquat]

I'm 'cloud-shy'. Local storage is cheap. For offsite backups, I use DS's FTP server, he uses mine.

I have posted pics to free places so that other can access them, but it's my contribution to the public domain (and no they are not pics of people).

 

[Katsmeow]

I find that I'm storing more and more on the cloud but have been reluctant to do much beyond those midpack mentions. That said, I'm starting to put more of my "real" data on the cloud but as a backup while keeping multiple copies of my data. I did recently have a computer where I lost the data on both hard drives and had a back up external drive fail all within close proximity. I did have copies on another external drive and on another computer so I only totally lost about 3 months worth of data most of which I could get back other ways (re-download bank statements, etc.). That said, it is causing me to think more seriously about using both google drive and dropbox.

As for email while I do use gmail extensively I actually also have a traditional mail program and periodically download my email to my harddrive in case gmail goes poof....

 

[photoguy]

I have a small dropbox account (2GB) for syncing non-sensitive files between computers. However my data files cover 1.5TB so for now cloud is too slow/expensive to use practically.

 

[aaronc879]

I heard someone refer to "the cloud" a couple weeks ago. Up until then I had never heard of it. Haven't taken the time to look it up so still know nothing about it. I don't have a smartphone, maybe that's why?

 

[RonBoyd]

I use Syncbox and Dropbox for a lot of my data. And I use Evernote several times a day.

However, I believe in backups... and the more the better. Therefore, on really important stuff, I have copies on, at least, two hard drives and also on paper. (Paper, BTW, will last over a hundred years -- barring fire/water type things. I am less sure of the longevity of digital data.)

Another backup method that I use extensively is sending copies to other people -- particularly photographs. Which, actually, was the first human attempts at backups... Libraries.

Hmmmm. That, also, seems to be the main purpose of most BLOGs.

 

[donheff]

I have pretty much everything in the cloud except music (I don't want to stream music to phones with metered data) but the music is backed up on multiple devices. Photos are in Flickr Pro. Everything else is in Dropbox and Google Drive. I grabbed a Microsoft Sky Drive but haven't started using it.

 

[RonBoyd]

I grabbed a Microsoft Sky Drive but haven't started using it.

This is part of Windows 8 -- to be used, for instance, in conjunction with OneNote. I haven't, yet, got to looking at it but it is another choice.

 

[easysurfer]

No cloud for me (at least not now).

 

[MichaelB]

Oh, this is interesting. I'm a bit reluctant to store anything significant in "the cloud", because of privacy and ownership concerns.

+1

If privacy rights are interpreted to refer to one's home and things within, cloud storage will not enjoy such rights. Audio and video files may not represent much of a risk but data and especially email files sure will.

 

[donheff]

+1

If privacy rights are interpreted to refer to one's home and things within, cloud storage will not enjoy such rights. Audio and video files may not represent much of a risk but data and especially email files sure will.

Possibly. But it is difficult to ensure that your email files are not accessible to others (e.g. law enforcement). Even if you delete messages from the server they may still exist in backup files, at least for a while. Personal data that could be used for identity theft are available from multiple sources not in your control. I worry about things like account logins and passwords so I keep them encrypted. As for other info, I am more worried that banks and other organizations will expose my data than that someone will access my Dropbox or email account. And, I am also more worried that malware could expose my local hard drive to a bad guy than that the cloud data will be compromised. If you are truly paranoid you would never type a password into a critical site like Vanguard but would always paste it in from an application like Password Safe thus not exposing it to a keylogger. But how many of us have that level of discipline?

 

[grasshopper]

Joni Mitchell, Both Sides Now

Bows and flows of angel hair
And ice cream castles in the air
And feather canyons everywhere
I've looked at clouds that way

But now they only block the sun
They rain and snow on everyone
So many things I would have done
But clouds got in my way

I've looked at clouds from both sides now
From up and down, and still somehow
It's cloud illusions I recall
I really don't know clouds at all

 

[Lsbcal]

I answered I wasn't on the Cloud but forgot about my Yahoo email account which I've had for years and some recent Kindle Fire stuff. Happy to let them deal with the spammers on email. I still get critical emails to my computer.

Just bought a 1 terabyte removable disc for data backups (only $80).

 

[RonBoyd]

Just bought a 1 terabyte removable disc for data backups (only $80).

For not much more you could have gotten a 3TB drive:

https://www.google.com/search?sourc...gs_l=hp....0.0.0.6797...........0.zwBsuJMBq5w

For instance:

Amazon.com: Seagate Expansion 3 TB USB 3.0 Desktop External Hard Drive STBV3000100: Computers & Accessories

I have (in addition to several smaller sizes) three HDs of that size and am currently looking for more storage space. Perhaps another:

Amazon.com: Mediasonic HF2-SU3S2 ProBox 4 Bay Hard Drive Enclosure with USB 3.0 & eSATA: Electronics

the four 2TB drives in my current one has proved to be a handy configuration. (The drives are hot bootable -- plug in, plug out.)

 

[HFWR]

The Rolling Stones - Get Off My Cloud - Live On Copacabana Beach - YouTube

 

[Purron]

THE TEMPTATIONS "CLOUD NINE" - YouTube